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Hey y’all, I hope everyone is having a great day today. It’s a new day and it’s nice and sunny outside which to me means good writing weather. (Granted I can write when the mood strikes me but when the weather is nice out that’s when I write the best.) With writing also comes the thing I rely most on which is music. Music is great for your moods, I don’t have moods or emotions like most people, I have songs. Weird I know but honestly it’s easier for me to tell someone after they’ve asked what’s on my mind, “Go listen to this.” and then I’ll tell em a song that is best describing what I’m dealing with at that time. For example; I had a bad break up awhile back and when my ex called me up to talk to me about things I said “You know I think you need to go listen to Bo Phillips Band’s song ‘The Pissed Off Clown Song’ or Keith Whitley’s song ‘I’m Over You’. Then tell me what you think.” Needless to say he didn’t call back so I think he got the hint (also if you’ve never heard those songs, I strongly suggest you stop reading and go to YouTube and look em up.)

So now that you’ve read the title of this blog and seen that I mentioned Keith’s song you’re probably wondering why I’m blogging about him. Lucky for you, I’m about to tell you why… So sit back, grab a soda pop or some Skittles and get ready to read why I think so highly of KW.

Keith Whitley…. man oh man if you’ve ever loved country music then you must’ve heard this man sing a time or two. Keith’s well known songs include; ‘I’m No Stranger To The Rain’, ‘It Ain’t Nothin’, ‘Homecoming ’63’, ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ (which was later covered by Alison Krauss and Union Station), ‘Miami, My Amy’ and that’s just naming a few. I have several friends that dote on KW and for good reason, if you went and YouTubed his song ‘I’m Over You’ and then watched some more videos then you know that his voice is one of a kind. Keith’s voice is, in my own opinion, soothing. It doesn’t matter what kind of day I’m having I can get in the car or turn on the radio and pop in one of his cd’s and BAM! Instantly I feel better. It could also be the sound of the music… no pops and whistles, it sounds like what country music should sound like. If you listen closely to his songs, you can hear the emotions in his voice. I love it. I hate the fact that I was 19 days short of being 5 when he passed away and I never got to go see him live in concert. I was just knee high to a grasshopper when my mama took me to see Tanya Tucker and then when I was 6 or 7 she took me to see Hank Williams Jr. Both concerts I remember still to this day. You can better believe I’d remember some Keith Whitley! If I could meet and interview any artist alive or dead I’d choose Keith, there’s so many things I’d ask him.

I learned to two step to Keith’s song ‘Ten Feet Away’, still to this day when I hear it, it takes me back to that moment in my life. (I was 16!) I remember spending the summers with my memaw and aunts and they would turn on CMT, of course I was glued to the TV. I remember sitting there watching ‘Homecoming ’63’ and ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ videos. One of my good friends, Erin Bear Glinski (formally Neal) and I used to listen to Keith a lot. Erin had this white Ford Mustang at the time and back in the day when it was cool to cruise we’d drive around listening to Keith. One memory that stands out in my mind and I’m not sure which one of us was nursing a broken heart from a bad break up at the time but she slung a Keith cd in the Mustang and turned up the volume and on came ‘I’m Over You’ and away we went driving and listening to that song as Erin Bear sang to it loudly and I giggled. I might not have remembered which one was broken hearted but I remember after jamming to that song 1,486 times, neither one of us was suffering anymore.

Another Keith song that stands out to me is ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes’ which went #1 in 1988. My Lord, it gets to me. I listen to it continuously and the line that sticks out the most is:

I think everyone has thought that at least once in their life. If you’re not familiar with the song once again, go visit YouTube or go buy an album. I can assure you, you won’t be disappointed by any of his songs.

Unfortunately, Keith’s career was cut short by his untimely death May 9,1989 at the young age of 34. I, in my own opinion, will say this about Keith… had he not passed away he would’ve had a larger than life career and he would’ve been one of the few artist to stay true to his country sound. Call me crazy but I strongly believe it. I can mention Keith’s name and whoever I’m around, you can see it in their face, they light up and start talking about their favorite song and boast on him and his music. I have friends that weren’t even born until after Keith’s death and you can believe they love his music and own all his albums. If that doesn’t tell you what a amazing singer he was then I don’t know what will!

I’ve read Lorrie Morgan’s book 5,493 times (True story, I’ve read it so many times. It’s that good!) If you haven’t, I strongly suggest you buy it and read it. It’s in her own words and it’s about her love story with Keith. From the time they met til he passed away, she recounts everything. I respect her on many levels and once you read the book, you will too.

While they were together they had a son, Jesse Keith Whitley, now if this name doesn’t sound familiar you take your butt right back over to YouTube and look him up right now. He’ll knock your socks off with his voice and his performances. Jesse Keith is one of those artist in Nashville that, I know, will be a household name within the year. Yes, he’s that good and who would’ve doubted it? His mom is Lorrie Morgan and his dad is Keith Whitley, God couldn’t have planned that any better. While you’re creeping YouTube, look up his song ‘Kentucky Thunder’ and then look up his cover of ‘Tell Lorrie I Love Her’, a song written by Keith to Lorrie that he recorded on a little recorder in their living room then was later sang at their wedding by a friend.

I had contacted Jesse Keith last October to ask about a possible interview for All Twang TV. We planned it and I took off for Tennessee the end of November, that trip was short lived. I was hit with terrible pain in my right kidney and then later realized I had a kidney stone. So I had to cancel and come home, I’m hoping I can reschedule that highly anticipated interview with JKW for this year. He, just like his daddy, interests me and I’ll gladly support both of them openly and proudly.

Y’all have a fabulous day and as soon as you can take your butt to Hastings, Wal Mart, Best Buy or wherever they sell cd’s and purchase any Keith Whitley album you can find and if you already have them, then take a hour break from whatever you’re doing and relax to some soothing sounds of KW. Until next time, bye y’all!

Hey y’all, I hope everyone had a good week and weekend. I’ve been busy tying up loose ends here and there while lining up potential interviews with some of my favorite artists.

This blog is going to be a little different… It’s not music related, of course there are some songs that come to mind regarding this blog but I’m not going to discuss em. However I’m going to do something I rarely do. I’m going to bare my soul and let y’all into my personal life.

I know I’ve been open about my beliefs and opinions on some things and I know that I’ve been private about some things, since this matter is going to come out in the public then it’s best I go ahead and address it. Everyone reading this will have their own thoughts and opinions on my decisions, that’s normal. I wouldn’t blame you one bit for having something to say whether it be good or bad. However, if any questions come to your mind, please feel free to private message me on my fan page or my personal Facebook page or even text me if you have my number. Also, before I get started, this is a very hard thing for me to write about. As I’ve said before some areas in my life I’m very private, very tender hearted. So note this is very emotional for me, if you’re a believer of God you better grab some tissues. Here we go…

I’m 29 years old and I’ll be the first to admit I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my life. A lot of things that should’ve prohibited me from sitting here writing. In the recent months, I’ve slowed down my nightlife and focused on things that are more important. I haven’t been out partying, burning up the bar tabs like I used to, waking up with hangovers or nothing of that nature. I’d have a glass of wine here and there at the house after a long day. I had been focusing on getting closer to God. Some of y’all might find it hard to believe that I asked God to come into my life September 5, 1999 and publicly showed my decision on September 19,1999 when I was baptized. Sure I got off track and backslid but hasn’t everyone, we’re not perfect.

Here and there in the past couple of months, I’ve been really focusing more on a closer relationship with God. He is bigger than all the problems we face everyday but unfortunately it hadn’t fully sunk in quite yet to me and in my hard head… I won’t go into detail on here but like I said before if you have any questions please contact me and I will answer almost any question you have. This past Saturday night I was arrested and went to jail for the first time in my entire life. Being my age you think you’d be able to handle the fact you’re handcuffed and in the back of a police vehicle but let me tell you something, I don’t care how old you are when you’re in that position, you want your mom. Every emotion one could feel, I was feeling it, but the one that stuck out the most was being ashamed.

I don’t recommend anyone going to jail; it’s filthy, scary, you’re treated like you’ve just committed first degree murder and you feel really claustrophobic. What’s even more humiliating is having to change from the comfort of your own clothes to jail clothes and then reality hits. It’s a really bad feeling. I wouldn’t wish what I seen or went through on anyone.

I had a lot of time to think about the situation I was in. Lord, I thought about everything. My son, my mom and dad, my little brother when he was arrested a couple of years back, the decisions I had made. You have your thoughts and that’s it. No one to talk to, sure I had cell mates but when I found out one of my cellmates was in there for manslaughter my Lord I almost lost it. No internet, no Facebook, no phone. NOTHING. Before I was walked to my cell in the women’s corner of the jail, I was in a huge area by myself. I huddled in the corner and cried and then prayed. Then I thought about everything imaginable. I thought about all the things I had done in my life and about everyone in my life. And it dawned on me, this was God’s way of showing me if I didn’t change my life then I would continue to travel down a path I didn’t want to be on. I believe God has ways of getting our attention, after my friend died in November that’s when I really started thinking about where I wanted to be in life and I started leaning toward God and His way. He had my attention and was working on me. Then here I was making a stupid decision and there was God getting my attention. He did, He had my full attention and I was listening. At four something in the morning as I’m sobbing and praying I asked God to forgive me of my shortcomings and I gave Him my life back like I had done back in ’99 to take over and to lead me to be closer to Him.

Six long hours later I was released to my Aunt Marilyn who then took me to my mom and son. I did a lot of crying like I’m doing right now as I write this to tell you my story. I cried when I seen Aunt Marilyn and I cried again when I seen my mom and son. I cried when I got home and my sister was waiting on me and had no clue where I had been nor knew the extent of what I had been through til I sat down with her and poured it all out. I still have a long road ahead of me until I get out of this mess I got myself into but lesson learned. God is a great teacher and someone we should all be close to. Of course now instead of facing problems on my own, I know that He will help me through whatever I face and I will not be alone.

All my friends and family that have spoke kind and encouraging words to me, thank you. You’ll never know what it means to me and you’ll never know how much they’ve helped me along with God’s kind hand. I love you all and wouldn’t know what to do without y’all. Until next time, bye y’all.

Hey y’all! I’m in a writing mood so I figured I better utilize it the best I can for now(: Today I’m gonna give y’all my opinion on Brantley Gilbert’s newest video and release, ‘Bottoms Up’. Now before I get started let me make some things clear… These opinions and thoughts are based solely on what I think, I’m a BG fan from way back when he first hit the scene (yes way before he came out with his album Halfway To Heaven, like a fan from when he blasted through my speakers singing about ‘Whenever We’re Alone’ *sigh*) I’ve met BG countless times and he’s one of the nicest people one can meet in the business. Let’s get started shall we?

Three weeks ago Brantley released his newest video and to my surprise it wasn’t some sap song milking a broken heart. (We all got the memo about his and Jana’s split.) What was an even bigger surprise was the fact that he has numerous leading ladies hanging off of him like drunken prom queens… (The broken heart must be healed… just saying..) At first, I didn’t know what to think about the new song, I’m used to his sound from ‘Take It Outside’, ‘Hell On Wheels’, and ‘Kick It In The Sticks’ which granted he does carry that sound and a little more with it. The sound I’m hearing from this song is…. well it just ain’t something I expected out of Brantley. His songs from ‘Halfway To Heaven’ make me want to drive fast and this song makes me want to slow down. It doesn’t mean the song hasn’t grown on me cause it has. It makes me want to grab a Mason jar of moonshine and dance even though I’m not much of a drinker nowadays and dancing, well I can pull a move or two out if needed.

His voice in this song has that raspy, sexy sound to it which is a plus, but I can’t understand what he’s saying in some parts of the song cause his voice is so low and raspy. How romantic and sexy is it when a guy says something and you have to say “Huh?” totally kills the mood so maybe just maybe BG needs to rework his sexiness… I wish I had that problem!

Now onto my thoughts on the video… I love the Bonnie and Clyde feel it has to it, the gangster look. All the fashion in this video from Brantley’s attire to the ladies dresses, the cars, the guns, all of it is rocked well by all involved. They start out loading up moonshine into the back of the car then Brantley and the three flapper girls get into his car and his band members all dressed in the same gangster fashion get into their car, guns loaded and drive off. They’re seen driving down a paved country road and eventually they pull into the driveway of a huge mansion, all get out of the cars and walk up to the mansion and are greeted by the doorman, who in real life is his bodyguard. As they walk into the mansion, the era changes and its todays times. All the clothes are updated and instead of walking in with all those crates of moonshine, they’re walking up with barrels of whiskey and then walk in to a raging party. Guys and girls are dancing everywhere while guess who is singing about Bottoms Up. While the party is getting crazy inside the mansion the next scene shows the sheriff walking up to the steps and the doorman redirects him. In case y’all didn’t know the sheriff is played by BG’s manager. (Everybody had a hand in this video for sure.) As the party is winding down, you see Brantley and his crew walking out of the mansion wearing their gangster clothes and getting back in their cars to go home. As Brantley pulls back into his driveway, he parks and gets out and has his back to the driveway, where the sheriff just so happens to be parked waiting on his return. The sheriff quietly gets out with his shotgun and walks up the driveway, as he approaches he cocks the shell into the chamber, Brantley turns around with two guns drawn and the screen goes black then you hear a gunshot.

The director of this video gets two thumbs up, something about the transitioning, the acting and the small details is what brings this all together and its flawless. However, I would change up Brantley’s style a smidge, something about his black jean sleeveless shirt he was wearing in the mansion just doesn’t do it for me and maybe not so many rings…. More is less BG(: Y’all can view this video, just go to http://www.youtube.com, search for Brantley Gilbert, then scroll through the results til you find Bottoms Up, click and enjoy. Also, call your local radio station and request to hear it. Until next time, bye y’all!

Wow last year was a long hectic crazy year! So crazy and hectic I haven’t wrote in ten long miserable months:( I know I know it’s time to get with the program and I have. While I was busy with shows and buying albums last year I also added to my plate.

I got a message one day asking me if I’d be interested in talking music on a podcast on Thursday night’s out of Lubbock Texas. So I said I’d give it a whirl to see if I’d be interested in doing it all the time and to my surprise I loved it and so did the guys and listeners that I now talk to every Thursday night. If y’all wanna call in and listen or talk to me or any of the guys that host Smokin’ X call 1-347-202-0263, also go ‘like’ their Facebook page titled Smokin X. Also…. I went on a limb and tried something new, I took a correspondence position. That’s right you read that correctly, I now interview artist instead of just talk about them.

I struck up a friendship with the producer of All Twang TV one night on Twitter after going on a rant. We talked music for two weeks when he asked me if I’d be interested in being the Oklahoma/Texas/Arkansas correspondent. Heck yes I’d be interested! But it wasn’t that easy and that quick on me making a decision… I was scared. Of course I can talk to anyone but talking to just anyone with a camera in my face? That thought scared the crap out of me and it still does even though I’ve already done two interviews. I know that the more I do the more easy it’ll be but until I get fully used to it, you can laugh at my nervousness when you watch the interviews.

I mentioned I had already completed two interviews… My first one was Rich O’Toole and let me tell you, I don’t think I could have chose a nicer more laid back person to interview my first time. Rich and I had kept in contact after one of his shows and he became more of a friend to me than me being a fan and him being an artist, when I approached him with the idea of me interviewing him he jumped at the chance. the interview went great and hopefully by the first of next month you guys will be able to view it.

My second interview was with up and coming artist Kaleb McIntire. I had seen the Missouri native several times in concert and was intrigued by his bad boy image so when his manager hit me up about interviewing him I couldn’t say no. I had some questions for him! Kaleb was such a great artist to interview and even played two of my favorite songs acoustic that you guys will hopefully see soon.

You can view my interviews along with several others. All you got to do is go to YouTube, type in the search bar, All Twang TV and then you can choose which episode you want from the results that pop up. Please subscribe to the channel as well and you’ll also get updates on upcoming shows.

I wasn’t sad to see 2013 go, sure I had some good opportunities but not all was good in ’13. There was heartache, lessons learned (hard lessons learned!) and loss. I had a close friend that was a proud supporter of Red Dirt Lisa pass away. It was unexpected and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him or want to call or text him to tell him when something exciting happens to me. He was always one of the first to know when I had exciting news and that’s what is so hard to swallow now… I know Luke is in Heaven and is making sure I keep in line, there’s a sense of comfort knowing he knows before I do when something good is going to happen in my life.

As I wrap up this blog I wanna share with y’all my new years resolutions and to give you guys a sneak peek at what’s ahead for me in 2014 and what y’all can expect out of me. I plan on driving to Texas and joining Granger Smith this year for his 100 mile Boot Walk, interviewing artist on a special bucket list I have made for myself, helping KTCS with the Make-A-Wish radiothon, having a closer relationship with God, being a better mom to my son and the two most common; losing 15 pounds and getting out of debt(:

Thank y’all so much for your continued support, you’ll never know how much it means to me. Until next time, bye y’all!